a family unforeseen but welcomed all the same
by Angel Starbeam
Summary: Jack Radcliffe and Beatrix Small are fosters siblings who adopted each other. They somehow ended up at Storybrooke, Maine. Or, Alice was with the Knave during the curse.


Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

* * *

Jack Radcliffe always said that Beatrix Small was his little sister because it was true.

* * *

Jack could remember how he truly met his sister Trixie. They were fighting over the telly, and Jack pushed her to the floor but Trixie got up and clocked him in the head with a soda can. Jack cried bloody murder as the can burst open and the pop spilled all over the rug. They both got the belt and no supper. Later, Trixie came to him and shared her hidden bag of crisps with him. She said she was sorry for hitting him. Even though his head still hurt like a lot and he missed his show, Jack thanked her for the crisps and said he was also sorry for pushing her.

Since then she always shared her snacks with him and he always let her have the telly.

When they were all grown up, and they got their visas, they moved to Storybrooke, Maine.

Trixie made Jack promise that they would move to the States once they were able to leave the home. They ended up in Maine, because New York was too cliché- Trixie's words- and Jack felt California was way too hot and not worth the effort. But why they chose to move to Storybrooke, Jack did not know why. They tried to save money so they could move somewhere else, but something always came up and they could not leave.

Jack could not find nor keep a "real job" to save his life but he did have some skills. He always had a plan to get some extra cash. It usually landed him in jail and Trixie angrily bailing him put. Good thing she did not ask about where the furniture, the telly and the microwave actually came from or else he'll get another hit to the head. Also a good thing they got along with Sheriff Humbert.

Trixie worked at the grocery, stocking things and sweeping the place. She worked hard and did not complain about the work, only that she could not remember the correct date of that day or the fact she kept getting lost in a town they been living at for three years now -or was it four?

Jack knew she wanted to go back to school, maybe in Boston, but she kept putting it off. She did that because she was afraid of leaving. Despite that she was always the one to wonder off, Trixie was scared of leaving. He wondered if its because she thinks she'll get so lost, she won't be able to come back.

So they stayed. They paid the bills- half the time Jack had to pawn something off to Mr. Gold- had dinner at Granny's and watched the telly. As stagnate as it was, and how restless Jack felt, it was perfectly normal and safe life. And he still had Trixie so it was all good.

* * *

One day, the clock tower finally started to work. Jack wondered when it was fixed or when it first broke.

* * *

Rent was two weeks away but Jack and Trixie knew they did not have enough for the month. So they went to Gold's shop with some watches Jack had gotten through his connections and see if they were enough to compensate for the lack of cash. As Jack really tried to keep them from homelessness, Trixie had wandered off so she could look at all the shiny junk in the shop.

Jack did not worry about Trixie, until Mr. Gold started eying her. It wasn't a lusty eying but Jack knew that it was not good to catch Gold's interest.

"Are you interested in some jewelry, Ms. Small?" Mr. Gold left his counter and went to her.

Trixie politely rebuffed, "No, I was just looking."

Gold followed her previous line of sight and took out a necklace from one his shelves. It was dark and old looking with a giant red stone pendant. It could not be worth much but Trixie seem to like it.

"Interesting choice but not an unwise one. It will go well with your little red stones." Gold said, "May I ask how you acquired them? They seem rare in these parts."

"I…" Trixie started to play with her necklace, a simple chain with three shiny red stones attached to it, "I can't remember."

"Well as I said, this will go well with them." Gold held the pendent to her.

"I don't know, we're trying to keep a budget. And keep up with the rent," Trixie explained.

"There is a story about this necklace," Gold started, and Jack wondered why the man wanted to make a sale with her. To keep them in more debt to him so he can have legitimate slaves?

"Anyone who has it ends up dead?" Jack guessed. Trixie gave him a look and he ignored it.

"No," Gold answered, "The story is that it has magic. When the person wearing it has true love for another, their hearts become entwined, and they will always know how the other is and be able to find each other."

"There's no such thing as magic," Trixie said quickly.

"And we are trying to pay the rent," Jack cut in.

Gold just looked at him as if he was a child who did not know that taking his medicine had to happen.

"How about this," Gold walked back to Jack and studied the watches, "This will cover half your rent and I will throw in the necklace."

"Done," Jack said quickly, because Gold accepted his knockoffs and Trixie smiled again.

"But I do expect the rest on time," Gold finished sternly.

"You'll get it," Trixie said, meaning they'll be dipping into the savings again.

Gold put the watches away in a velvet cloth as the siblings got their bill and Trixie put on her new necklace.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you both," Mr. Gold said for the first time ever, "And Ms. Small?"

"Yes?"

"You are correct, magic doesn't exist here. But it's a good story, isn't it?"

Trixie smiled again, "Yes, it's a good story."

Two weeks later, Trixie got her paycheck and got some overtime and they made they rent. Gold complimented on herpromptness and how her red stones and pendant looked so nice together.

Trixie found a copy of _Alice in Wonderland_ and started reading it for the first time.

Nothing changed, except the sheriff died and the new sheriff was a woman named Swan. Apparently there was some story with her and the mayor, but Jack wanted nothing to do with it. Months passed, and rent was paid, Jack was on his way to his connections to get something new that would hopefully be worth something and they met a man named Jefferson.

"Alice?" the wooly coat and scarf man asked.

"Sorry? My name is Trixie Small. This is my brother Jack."

"Yes, sorry, I was confused." He thrust his hand out, "I'm Jefferson."

"Its nice to meet you," Jack shook his hand first. The man was odd, all tense and looked at them as he knew them. It made Jack uneasy.

"Did you just move?" Trixie asked, "I can't recall seeing you before."

"My house is out in the woods," Jefferson said, "And I don't go out much."

"Well, that's okay, there's not much to see." Jack joked, "Trix, we're going to be late."

"And I should go too," Jefferson said.

"Wait," Trixie stopped the man that gave Jack all queasy insides, "Who did you mistake me for?"

Jack could read people very well, despite what others thought, and what he got from this Jefferson was sadness and fear, and he looked at them as if they were lost children who no longer remembered their own names. He seemed to think and weighed his words and chose the words that weren't so heavy.

"A girl I sometimes looked after a long time ago." He finally replied, "She would come over to my old house and we would have tea until her father picked up her. You're her all grown up."

"Oh, did you keep contact after you moved?" Trixie questioned.

"No, she moved too." Jefferson said, "But it was good to meet you two. I hope to run into you again."

"Sure," Jack nodded his goodbye and sneakily dragged Trixie away before she could give their address to him.

They went the opposite way from Jefferson's way. Sometime later, Jack heard about how a man kidnapped Sheriff Swan and she had to escape from his big house in the woods. He saw the notice the sheriff put on the bulletin board and realizing that it sounded a lot like Mr. Jefferson. Jack decided to never ever speak to someone he never knew again.

Trixie had a nightmare. The next day, Jack asked who was Cyrus and she had no idea what he was talking about.

Jack then knew his name was actually was Will Scarlet and he was born in Sherwood Forest. He realized that he was trapped in a curse for twenty-eight years. And it wasn't such a bad thing for him because he kept his heart in a box, and he had a sister, while in his previous life he was all alone.

Then he realized that Alice is here with him, and she was ripped away from her own life. He went straight home, passing people who waking up and finding loved ones. A big purple cloud came and covered the town and then left just as quickly. Will saw that nothing bad happen, at least not yet and not to him and kept going.

And he when he got to their flat, he ran up the stairs. In the living room, Alice was sitting down and she looked as if she had been crying. She looked very young and scared just as before when she was a little girl.

"Trix?" Will said before he could correct himself, "Alice?"

Alice, who was Trixie Small for nearly thirty years, looked up and saw him, "Will."

She went to hug him and he hugged her back. He wanted to tell her that it was going to be okay but held back until he had proof that it was all okay.

"Will, there's something we have to do," Alice said so softly.

"I know, I think the queen is about to lynched, saw a mob going to her place, so we just need to stay put and weather it out…"

"No, we need to go back to Wonderland." Alice corrected, "Or I need to go back."

"What?" Will was now confused.

"Cyrus is alive and if I'm right, he's still at Wonderland."

Will had to talk reason to her, it hurt but he had to, "Alice, Cyrus fell into the Boiling Sea, you saw it and nothing can come back from that."

"I know, but he didn't fall in, somehow he didn't go in."

"How? How do you know that?"

"This," Alice held up her red pendant, "He was wearing it when he fell. And it found its way to me."

"Alice, listen to yourself. Okay its magic, fine, that's why it survived but Cyrus was still flesh and blood."

"Except its glowing now." Alice argued, "Our hearts are entwined. He's alive. And I'm going to find him."

"Okay, how are you going to get to Wonderland? Even if we can leave the town now, we're stuck in this realm."

"So we just find a portal." Alice reasoned, "Maybe we can go to Mr. Gold, he knew about the necklace…"

"No, trust me we do not want help from that man."

Alice huffed in exasperation, not liking how Will kept shooting her down. And then she kept thinking and wanting a solution to come out. Will decided to get a beer because its been a long day and his sister is driving him crazy.

"Hatter!" Alice then said.

"What?"

"Remember Jefferson? He's Hatter. He might help. Magic came here with that cloud, so maybe he can use his hat and take us." Alice took her coat out and out it on, "We can go to his house now, and it'll just be us because the same number has to go through and out. That or we go Rabbit for the way back."

She went to the door and opened the door. She turned and faced him, "Will?"

For twenty-eight years, they had memories of a life together. Will remembered their childhood at the foster home, the antics at secondary school, and Trixie's stint at uni. He held her when she cried from heartbreak whether she wondered why she had no parents, to feeling she failed because she dropped out, to some bad relationship. He remembered her lying for him whenever he screwed up. He remembered sneaking into movies, clubs and buying her first beer. And being so proud of her when she got her visa and was ready see the world. And none of that happened.

Alice wanted him to go because he was the only family she had, which was sad how she was closer to her fake cursed brother then her rat bastard father. Because he was the Knave and he owed her one, and she was still unsure of everything.

"Let me get my keys," Will said, "And Hatter been madder than ever, liking his scissors too much I heard, so you better bring the crowbar."

He drank the last of his beer and found his keys. He joined Alice at the door and off they went. He quipped again about hoping that the Mad Hatter decided to be a bit saner today.

Because of course he going with Alice and help her. She's his sister.

* * *

Will Scarlet has a sister named Alice.

* * *

Next time: More on Jack and Trixie. Or Will and Alice. I'll figure it out.


End file.
